How to Beat Workplace Burnout on Channel 9 Today Extra
Topic: How to Beat Workplace Burnout
Sub Topics: Workplace Wellbeing, Hybrid Work, Employee Assistance Programs, Cyberloafing
Presenters and Hosts: Richard Wilkins and Sylvia Jeffreys
Workplace Expert in Melbourne: Sue Ellson
Date: 9 July 2024 at 10:46am
Show: Today Extra
Television Station: Channel 9’s Today Extra Show, National Australian Television
Appearance Number: 19
Hashtags: #sueellson #burnout #boredom
Video Link: https://www.9now.com.au/today/season-2024/clip-clydpv5ae00030hoe2v90ze9t
https://9now.nine.com.au/today/videos/latest/how-to-beat-workplace-burnout/clydpv5ae00030hoe2v90ze9t
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqeXBkeHjuQ
Time: 00:03:41
On Tuesday 9 July 2024, I appeared on Channel 9’s Today Extra show with Richard Wilkins and Sylvia Jeffreys to talk about how to beat workplace burnout.
Transcript
Well we are almost halfway through July I can’t believe What? Which means that we’re you know, halfway through the year. It’s amazing. Doesn’t make any sense. And if you’re already battling a little workplace burnout You Are Not Alone. Careers Expert Sue Ellson joins us now from Melbourne to show us how to shake off the mid year slump we all need a little bit of that. Sue why does the burnout feel like it hits harder in Winter?
Yes well you’re all automatically overcoming the normal stresses of work but then it’s you’re feeling cold, you’ve got to get out of bed in the morning and you may even be worried about the cost of heating and the work from home space as well so you’ll probably be missing out on some of those usual activities that you do like going for a walk and some recent research by Infinite Potential of over 2,000 people in 43 countries shows it’s been a 27% increase in Burnout since 2020 it’s around 42% for women which has gone up and around 30% for men which has gone down slightly and they suggest that to try and avoid it you do 2 to 3 days of work at home or the office and and juggle it that way and you’ll get the best sort of feeling of well-being and quality of work from that.
Okay help us with a little self-diagnosis here. What are the signs that this could be you know happening to you?
Yes well you’re likely to be lacking in energy, feeling exhausted, feeling a little bit distant from your actual work and the people you work with and you may also not be performing quite as well as you’ve done in the past and reduced your professional efficacy. Now, if you are burnt out you’re twice as likely to feel lonely and a lot of people don’t actually realize until it’s all of a sudden on them they were stressed and then all of a sudden they’re burnt out.
So if work from home isn’t an option what are some other ways that we can overcome it?
Well the first thing is obviously to talk to your manager particularly if there’s been a requirement for you to increase your productivity with artificial intelligence but another thing that a lot of people are not accessing, 50% of Australians have access to an Employee Assistance Program which is free and confidential and it’s not just a talk fest, they can actually offer you a personal concierge service to get your life in order. You could also, if you don’t feel confident with that, you can look at the mental health support services you can call Lifeline and get referred to something locally and you can also just make sure that you develop your own support network of trusted friends and professional advisers.
So how do you tell the difference between you know burnout and if you’re maybe just a little kind of bored?
Well with burnout you’ve got too much to do and if you’re bored you’ve got too little that’s of interest to you.
Right.
So we obviously need that little bit of challenge as well at times. So you’re either over engaged or under engaged so you need to avoid what’s called cyberloafing just scrolling through the internet and wasting time and really focus on those activities that rejuvenate you and help you to have those difficult conversations so that you can feel safe and well at work and have that really optimum level of both challenge and output.
Okay but how do you know when you’ve just reached the end of the road with a job and it’s time to move on to something different?
Well first of all, don’t panic would be the first thing but you definitely would need to have some other things in place and I would suggest that make sure you’re secure yourself and it’s not you’re just putting everything onto the work position because sometimes there’s other things in your life that are really affecting you it’s not just the job it could be a whole lot of things all at once so if if you’re in that difficult situation don’t hit the panic button. Find out what sort of supports you can get to manage where you’re at right now and then strategically plan your next steps from there.
Good advice Sue as always, thank you We’ll see you shortly. Thank you. See you next time. Coming up
Graphics
MID-YEAR BURNOUT
- Common for WFH employees
- Cost-of-living concerns
- Minimal time for rest & recovery
BURNOUT SYMPTOMS
- Energy depletion & exhaustion
- Feeling distant
- Negative feelings about work
- Reduced professional efficacy
OVERCOMING BURNOUT
- Raise restructuring job role
- Employee Assistance Program
- Use mental health services
- Develop support network+
BURNOUT OR BOREDOM
- Doing too much or too little
- Over engaged or under engaged
- Avoid cyberloafing
- Rejuvenating or wasting time?
References
The State of Workplace Burnout 2024
https://infinite-potential.com.au/the-state-of-burnout-2024
How to combat the three dimensions of burnout
https://www.hrmonline.com.au/section/featured/combat-three-dimensions-of-burnout
Cyberloafing: The line between rejuvenating and wasting time
https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200206-cyberloafing-the-line-between-rejuvenating-and-wasting-time
Employee Assistance Program Summary from James Callender at Workplace Options on 23 May 2024 at an event for the Australian Human Resources Institute on ‘Mental Health & Psychosocial Safety in the Multilingual Workplace‘ – James also mentioned that of the 50% of Australians who have access to an EAP, less than 5% of people use it.
State of the Global Workplace
https://www.gallup.com/workplace/349484/state-of-the-global-workplace.aspx
Shared Online
BURNOUT 🔥 // Today I appeared on Channel Nine’s Today Extra Program with Richard Wilkins and Sylvia Jeffreys talking about Burnout. Recent research 📃 by Infinite Potential of over 2,000 people in 43 countries shows that it has increased by 27% since 2020 and has gone up to 42% for women and down to 30% for men.
Their research also shows that the highest level of wellbeing and quality of work comes from a hybrid work arrangement of 2 to 3 days per week in the workplace.
If you are feeling burnt out, you will probably be lacking in energy, feeling exhausted and distant from people and your work and have reduced professional efficacy.
You are also twice as likely to feel lonely 🥺 and you could be stressed at work for a while and then suddenly feel burnt out.
However, you could talk to your manager about restructuring your job (especially if you have been asked to increase productivity with artificial intelligence), make use of the free and confidential Employee Assistance Program available to over 50% of Australian employees (and only used by less than 5% of people), use external mental health services (via a referral from Lifeline) or develop your own support network of trusted friends and professional advisers.
Ultimately, you need to avoid cyberloafing and wasting time on the internet 📱and focus on rejuvenating activities 🚶that help you have those difficult conversations so that you can feel safe and well at work and achieve the right level of challenge and output.
If you are feeling you are at the end of the road, the first thing is to not panic, look at the bigger picture of work and life and find ways to support yourself now and then strategically plan your next steps.
Thanks to Producer Natacha Maloon and Segment Producer Katelyn Milligan.
https://9now.nine.com.au/today/videos/latest/how-to-beat-workplace-burnout/clydpv5ae00030hoe2v90ze9t
#burnout #boredom #workstress #sueellson
Shared on Television Page, Videos Page, Publications Page, Archive.org Facebook Page, Google, LinkedIn Profile, LinkedIn Page, Twitter / X, LinkedIn Story – Have you hit a mid year slump?, Infinite Potential Post